From the Aviva to Zurich — It’s our A to Z of the sporting year

NewsExpressHindi January 4, 2023

Source: ©INPHO

A – Aviva Stadium As well as hosting the Six Nations, November internationals and Euro 2016 qualifiers, the Lansdowne Road ground held the FAI Cup finals — won by St Patrick’s Athletic and Raheny United.

B – BOD Ireland’s greatest rugby player of the professional era hung up his boots in May but went out on a high by winning the Six Nations championship and the Pro12 final.

C – Cody The Kilkenny senior hurling manager won a 10th All-Ireland title — eventually defeating Tipperary after a replay.

D – Davy Russell The Irish jockey had three winners on the final day of Cheltenham including his first Gold Cup victory with Lord Windermore.

E –Eamonn Fitzmaurice Managed Kerry to their 37th All-Ireland SFC title in September.

F –Five world titles in-a-row We’re talking about Katie Taylor, who continued her dominance in women’s boxing by winning a fifth consecutive gold medal in South Korea in November.

G – Götze As in Bayern Munich midfielder Mario Götze — sprung from the bench to score Germany’s winning goal in the World Cup final.

H – Hogan Kilkenny’s star midfielder Richie was rewarded for his performances in Kilkenny’s All-Ireland-winning side with Hurler of the Year.

I – Ireland’s U19s ’The History Girls’ made it all the way to the last four of the UEFA European Championships under manager Dave Connell.

J – James O’Donoghue After winning his first All-Ireland title, the 24-year-old Kerry forward got his second Allstar and won Footballer of the Year.

K – Keane Ireland skipper Robbie won the MLS Cup and the league’s MVP award while his namesake Roy was never far away from the news throughout 2014.

L –  La Decima Real Madrid lost out to city rivals Atletico Madrid in La Liga but were European champions for the tenth time.

Source: AP/Press Association Images

M – McGregor The Irish UFC fighter’s star continued to rise as he returned from a knee injury to make light work of Diego Brandao and Dustin Poirier.

N – Niamh Briggs The full-back scored 40 points at the World Cup as Ireland had wins over New Zealand, the US and Kazakhstan en route to the World Cup semi-finals.

O – Odell Beckham Jr Greatest NFL catch ever? It’s certainly up there.

P – Puskas Award Irish striker Steph Roche did the unimaginable by making the final three for Fifa’s goal of the year prize.

Q – Quotes There were plenty of memorable soundbites, including this:

R – Rory The current world number one golfer had two Major wins, The Open Championship and the PGA Championship, and took the Race to Dubai.

Source: Paul Sancya

S – Seattle Seahawks Back in February, the world tuned in to see the Seahawks outscore the Denver Broncos by 35 points at Super Bowl XLVIII.

T – Toulon Inspired by captain Jonny Wilkinson, the French club retained their European title with a convincing win over Saracens at the Millennium Stadium.

U – UFC Dublin 9,500 fans showed up at The O2 Arena for Irish MMA’s biggest ever event.

V – Vuelta a Espana Won by Alberto Contador, Ireland’s Dan Martin finished seventh.

W – “Well Joe Brolly, what do you think of that?” Kieran Donaghy’s now famous post-match interview after Kerry saw off Donegal to win the Sam Maguire.

X – Xabi Alonso Everyone’s favourite midfielder hung up his international boots but is still going strong at Bayern Munich this season.

Y –YBIG The Ireland supporters’ group expressed their frustration at FAI chief John Delaney’s treatment of fans.

Z – Zurich The city where Mark English won his bronze medal in the 800m final of the European Championships.

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